Déjà vu - SEE NO EVIL!

1987, the year of living dangerously!

The Aussies started it all with the coverage of Barlow and Chambers drug trafficking case.

I was working for a local Penang paper; young and reckless, shooting for the paper and moonlighting for the Australian agencies! Money was fast and good.... we never see so many photographers and "green bills" in our life!

The high court in Penang was like a media zoo!...

The important thing about covering a high-pressure-high-court case is a electronic flash with very fast recycling time! In 1987, Quantum battery was the "King "! I decided to built one that is FASTER!

REDUX -The DECISIVE MOMENT, Are You Ready?

What is the Decisive Moment?

The term Decisive Moment was first coined by the noted French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson considered by many to be the father of modern photojournalism Cartier-Bresson’s book, "The Decisive Moment, 1952" contains the term “the decisive moment” now synonymous with Cartier-Bresson: “There is nothing in this world that does not have a decisive moment."

Cartier-Bresson believed that “The Decisive Moment” was that split second of genius and inspiration that a photographer had to capture a certain moment.

Photo Printed More Than A Million Time!

The highest circulated Malaysian English daily, The Star; is rushing to complete their 40th anniversary book on what us pioneers contributed to "The People's Paper".

This time round, photographers are being honored; about bloody time too!

The book, hopefully; will feature some of the BEST pictures that made The Star famous.

Among the thousands of pictures taken is a Decisive Moment shot that has been printed more than a MILLION times ;)

I am proud that yours truly took that picture!

1986, Pulau Tikus; Penang...

After a two year stint with The New Straits Times, I rejoined The Star; the second time.

I was covering the Malaysian general election in Penang, at the Pulau Tikus polling center I spotted this boy waiting for his mother to cast her vote.

There were two issues here, you spotted the boy; you realised it is a decisive moment; the next FIVE seconds will decide how FAST and how well PREPARED you are with your camera!

Within seconds the boy left, the moment was; decisive after all!

When Is It My Turn?

Elle Moment!

Saturday, gloomy winter weather; cold and wet... what better time to tidy up my pictures archive :)

Found this old post that is worth posting again.

Elle is Elle McPherson, according to Wikipedia:

Elle Macpherson ( /ˈɛl məkˈfɜrsən/; born 29 March 1963) is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record six cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s.

She is also known as the founder and primary model for a series of business ventures including Elle Macpherson Intimates, a lingerie line, and "The Body", a line of skin care products. According to Forbes, Macpherson possesses assets around $60 million. In 2010, she became the host and executive producer of Britain's Next Top Model.

My picture of super model Elle appeared in the Dominion feature story, written by Raybon Kan.

A PAPARAZZI TALE

I was accused of many things in my 30 years working in various newspapers as Picture Editor and News Photographer, there was but one time I was called a Paparazzi!

If you pride yourself as a photojournalist, being called a paparazzi is not a good thing!

According to Wikipedia:

Paparazzi (singular: (m) Paparazzo or (f) Paparazza) is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people. Paparazzi tend to be independent contractors, unaffiliated with a mainstream media organization.

By the late 1960s the word, usually in the Italian plural form paparazzi, had entered English as a generic term for intrusive photographers.

That's not moi!!!

In my working life as a news photographer I sometime got myself in really sticky situation!

Like taking a decisive shot of Reuters photographer Goh Chai Hin being man handle by the men-in-blue at the Penang High Court.

Remembering the Highland Towers Tragedy

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

On December 11, 1993; after 10 continuous days of rainfall, Block 1 of the Highland Towers collapsed.

The Highland Towers were three blocks of 12-story apartment at Ulu Kelang, built in the late 1970s at the western base of a steeply sloped hill, it was later terraced (extensively in the early 1980s) for proposed bungalow developments which were never completed.

Each block was respectively named Block 1 (built first, southern-most), Block 2 (built second, north-northwest of block 1, slightly elevated than the other two, closer in to the hill) and Block 3 (built last, northwest of block 1, west of block 2).

A swimming pool was located between northwest side of Block 2 and northeast rear of Block.

Ten continuous days of rainfall caused the retaining wall at the Tower's car park to fail and this led to a landslide . The landslide swept away the foundation of the building and Block 1 toppled over.

The Highland Towers Tragedy claimed the lives of 48 men, women and children (including an infant).

My involvement...

The Eyes Have It!

Isn't that what good photographer are all about? He/she should be able to SEE what others do not and react to what he sees and be able to freeze and capture that "slice of time", a slice of the moment that BELONGS to you!

A good photographer must be very sensitive to all sorts of things around him - light, emotion, objects, shapes, composition.

When situation arise he must be able to operate his camera like his second nature... an extension of his mind, his soul, if you like; no hesitation, decisive; instance!

(Click on the picture! For Your Eyes Only!)

Decisive Moment... The Plane! The Plane!!

Sometime, before a "BIG" news job, your intuition tells you there bound to be a "decisive moment opp" during the unfolding of the event. What do you do? What any good photojournalist will do, plan and more planning before the job!

Case History: "The plane! The plane!" How many of you remember this phrase at "Fantasy Island" on TV? :)

My brief was EIGHT super-duper Mirage fighters are going to fly pass Fort Conwallis, Penang to mark Adelaide becoming the "twin city" with Penang Island; the event is real big deal!

The planes were flown by pilots from Adelaide, Australia. They were based at Butterworth, Malaysia. The display was to mark the Adelaide Week celebration also, thus the "A" formation.

The first thing I did when I was told about this job was to call the officer in charge at RAAF, Butterworth to find out more details like, from which direction the Mirages will zap by; then I went to the spot where I THINK the planes will cross and check out the best angle. Please take note young photogs! The successful photo coverage involved planning, planning and MORE planning!

The Decisive Moment!

As a photographer I am always searching for what French-born photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson called the "decisive moment."

Henri wrote in 1957, "A velvet hand, a hawk's eye -- these we should all have. If the shutter was released at the decisive moment, you have instinctively fixed a geometric pattern without which the photograph would have been both formless and lifeless."